We are going to have a lot of Japanese fleet carriers once we get through the basic HBG set.
Current OOB = Shinano (which some people may want to use as Japan’s super or heavy carrier)
A&A 1941 = Akagi
HBG Supp = Kaga
HBG Exp = Unryu
HBG Basic = Shokaku/Zuikaku (which I guess are basically the same model/design)
So that’s 5 different fleet carriers for Japan (4 if you use Shinano as a heavy carrier). While I like all the different little sculpts too so I’m not trying to complain, but are any of these going to be different other than their physical appearance? Would they have different values for attack, defense, movement or cost? Would any of them have different special abilities? Say you have a Japanese fleet on the game board and in it you have a Kaga and an Unryu, would there be any difference between the two other than how they look?
A while back, Variable was talking about having the Shinano as a heavy carrier in the expansion set but a lot of you said don’t use the Shinano because it wasn’t used in the war and didn’t see action. So they decided to go with yet another fleet carrier, the Unryu, which did actually participate in the war.
I understand the wanting for more historical accuracy and in getting more sculpts that actually participated in the war. However, we are not playing A&A War at Sea Miniatures here. In that game, the different ships do matter because each ship has specific values and a lot more values to work with. In the A&A board games, we don’t generally get into so many specifics. Our units are a lot more basic: attack, defense, move and cost. Some may get additional values like carrying 3 planes or taking 2 hits to sink. Basically though, a carrier is a carrier. How many different fleet carriers do we really need?
Also, isn’t the point of an expansion set to introduce NEW TYPES OF UNITS? Ships that have different characteristics from those we already have, like a heavy carrier. I know a lot of you will probably disagree with me because the Shinano didn’t see action, but I think HBG should go back to adding the Shinano to the expansion set. Or if you don’t like the Shinano as a heavy carrier, perhaps there was another even bigger carrier that the Japanese had plans to build but never got to because they lost the war and you could use that one. Remember, we are not dealing with ACTUAL history in this game. With the expansion sets, we are setting the stage for all of us to be able to introduce units in our games that never actually occurred in real life.
As for having the Shinano in OOB pieces, well, we ALL know that HBG’s pieces look MUCH nicer with the added detail and realism. Most of us here I think fully plan to replace their OOB pieces as soon as HBG pieces are available. I know in most cases I will and have in some cases (T-34s, Shermans, P-40s etc.)
Well, that’s my two cents for what it’s worth. I know that HBG must cater to public/customer opinion and if the majority want to include yet another fleet carrier which will be basically no different from what we already have but will look neat on the game board, I will simply deal with it. I just think it’s a waste of a slot in the expansion set.
By the way, I’m okay with another fleet carrier in the Basic set because it is just that, a Basic set.
